Avenge
by TennisQueen12
Summary: Life as I knew it was completely shattered. Seneca was dead, President Snow was still in power, and I was a broken woman with a child to care for. I needed to to settle the score; I needed to redress the hell that had been set upon me. Vengeance was the only option. SEQUEL TO ALIEN.
1. The Truth

**Disclaimer: I own very little.**

Chapter One: The Truth

_Even in the darkest of days,  
Light is found,  
Dimness vanquished,  
And hope restored._

I am not a rebellious person, please understand that. Or, at least, I didn't originally want to be one. You see, I was the weird one when I was little. Yeah, the little Savera Stone (I suppose the official name is still Crane), a complete intellect, is still who I am to this day. Honestly. It's just that, that time in between the Games and my search to avenge my husband's death was not… particularly easy for me, and I was forced to act under the circumstances that were given to me. I would have much rather been holed up in my home, tinkering with the inventions that I used to make as a child. However, said circumstances, prevented me from doing such. In that time frame, from my childhood to leaving the Capitol illegally, I had been reaped into the Hunger Games, won by pure chance, fallen in love with a Gamemaker, become a vital member of the Capitol's Intelligence, become pregnant with a child, and lost my husband to the same relentless man who had ruined my life in the first place. To top this all off, I was left with no other option but to flee from the Capitol in possibly one of my riskiest endeavors yet.

Correction: my riskiest endeavor yet. There was no "possibly" about it.

The wilderness of Panem, outside of the Capitol, was like nothing I had ever seen before. The beauty of the trees, the fresh air, the mountains, and the wildlife was phenomenal. Had I not been scared every step of the way for, not only my life, but the life of everyone else in our troupe, then I probably would have been enjoying myself.

Our group consisted of six of us: Tomas, Layla (aka Crystal), Steele, Ostro, Obadiah, and I. Initially, our personalities meshed very well together since we all shared a common goal of getting out of the Capitol unscathed. From the beginning, our chance of success appeared to be very high. The Capitol's security and intelligence rested more heavily upon my shoulders than they would have liked to let on. It's for this reason that when I fled, their reaction was very delayed. Thanks to the distraction posed by Ostro and my absence, the response time was incredibly delayed. I could only imagine how infuriated President Snow was going to be when he discovered this. However, he had to be careful about his rage seeing as it was a celebratory time in the Capitol. He certainly wouldn't want to draw away from the attention the victors were receiving. Or perhaps, he would want to draw attention away from them seeing as they had started riots and a potential uprising against the Capitol.

Either way, it would be interesting to see his response. In all honesty, I was surprised this escape had gone as flawless as it had.

"We're going to set up camp here," Ostro, my brother, whom I hadn't seen in many months, mentioned as he pulled the lime green trench coat from his shoulders and threw it over a tree branch, clearly glad to be rid of it. After doing so, he made his way toward the river that lay several yards from where our camp was going to be set. I gazed around to see that we were far out of sight from the Capitol, deep in the mountains of Panem's wilderness. The crispness of the air and beauty of the trees was incomparable to anything I had seen before, but I was unable to appreciate it for its beauty as my mind was elsewhere. Essentially, we were at the bottom of a ridge. There was a flowing river running just feet from where he had stopped and above us was a steep climb, but it was nothing compared to what I could see us climbing in the future. Adrenaline, thus far, had made me forget just how heavy my son was on my back and it was at this point, with the sun setting, that I crouched down to let him off of my back.

Immediately, I heard a yawn escape his lips and when I turned to look at him, I crouched down to his level," Obie, we are going to stay here for the night. You stay where mommy can see you, okay?"

Stifling another yawn, he nodded sleepily before sliding his hand through mine as the others began to set up an impromptu camp. I helped all that I could with gathering wood and putting together the less-than-luxurious tent Layla had stored in her bag. There were two that she had been able to smuggle in with her. No one said much of anything, but rather built the camp in silence. It was eerie to say the least, seeing as I still had many questions that needed answers. To top it all off, I wasn't in the most stable mental state. Had Layla not dragged me out of the Capitol building, I would have probably still been sitting there in shock.

After the camp was set up as best as it was going to be, Ostro came up from the river, nearly drenched in water, a stack of fish piled on a spear he had apparently crafted. He handed the spear to Tomas," Would you mind preparing these?"

Steele had just finished stoking the fire as he said this. The look on Tomas's face showed that he was less than pleased to be assigned the job of cook. He furrowed his brow and shot my brother a dirty look before taking the spear and plopping down on a log beside the fire to begin cooking them. Layla and Steele offered their help as well. Ostro looked at me.

"I think we need to talk," He said softly, looking at me.

I nodded, stepping toward him, but as I did, he looked down at Obadiah," Why don't you leave him here?"

I shot him a look of horror, scared of leaving him out of my sight. Layla could tell by my reaction that I was a little spooked by this thought and it was for this reason that she approached Obie and offered her hand to him," Why don't you come with me, big guy? Mommy needs to go talk with your Uncle Ostro."

I looked down at him, my grasp still tight on his little hand. I forced myself to let go of his head and forced a smile on my lips to reassure him that it was okay for him to go. He knew Crystal, of course, and finally went to her after I let go. He waved at me as I turned to go with my brother, back down toward the river.

At first, there was nothing but silence as we walked. In fact, neither of us said anything, until we reached the riverbed and found a large rock over the flowing river with white rapids. He climbed to the top first, then looked back to help me. When I pulled myself up next to him, I could feel his eyes on me.

"He's gone, Ostro," I whispered to him, pulling my feet and wrapping my arms around them.

Ostro grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight," Savera, I-"

"I can't believe it actually happened. Snow always warned me, but I didn't think the day would actually come," I whispered, shaking my head as I rested my chin on my knees. My voice was clearly shaky and unstable as I continued on. "He didn't deserve to die, Ostro, he just wanted to make a difference and went too far."

"Savera, he-"

"I know I shouldn't have fallen in love with him, Ostro. It was stupid in the first place, but I really shouldn't have let him take the position as Head Gamemaker; he offered not to take it and-"

"Savera, I tried to save him," Ostro finally told me, looking straight into my eyes. He kept his hand in mine. "I tried, but by the time I got there…he was already gone. You need to know that though. You also need to know that there was no shame in what he did. In fact, he accomplished precisely what he was assigned to do. All this time, he has been working with the rebels from District Thirteen."

I blinked several times, fighting back the tears that were forming," W-what?"

"Before mother and I fled the night of your wedding, he told us precisely where to go. It has taken me all this time, but I was able to locate District Thirteen and organize a party to come to your rescue. He essentially saved, not only mine, but also mother's life. She's safe back in Thirteen. But Savera, Seneca loved you so much that he made me swear that I would come and get you out of the Capitol as soon as he was gone. We've been planning this for weeks now. In fact, part of the security breach this time was thanks to Seneca being able to shut off his section of the Capitol's intelligence branch when he was taken away," Ostro explained, as I focused my eyes on the rolling water, trying to process all that he said.

"Ostro, District 13 is in rubble."

Immediately, my brother rolled up his sleeve to show me something tattooed on his forearm. I stared at it in disbelief, wondering what it was. Apparently, it was some sort of schedule on his arm. I looked at him, searching for an answer.

"What is-"

"It's a schedule. It's everything that I'm supposed to do at every minute in District Thirteen. Savera, they were never destroyed. They were just silenced. They were forced to keep quiet by the Capitol. Honestly, the Capitol is scared of what they could do. You know what District Thirteen produced when they were still around, right?" He asked me, looking straight into my eyes.

I furrowed my brow, trying to remember what I had read," Was it some sort of weaponry? Nuclear missiles, right?"

"Yes. They were a threat to the Capitol. Long story short, the Capitol wanted to keep them silent so they wouldn't destroy them. A non-aggression pact sent District Thirteen underground while the Capitol continued ruling the other districts, making the others believe that Thirteen had been destroyed. I don't expect you to believe it until you see it, but you should be told now before we get there," He explained, keeping a grip on my hand.

I took a deep breath in," I don't know how to respond. Honestly, right now, it's just…I just need time to mourn and realize what's-"

"That's the problem, Savera. We don't have time for that. You realize that war could break out between District Thirteen and the Capitol at any time thanks to the new victors of the Hunger Games. Thirteen sees this as the perfect opportunity to strike. We have to get back there before they start, otherwise we could be stuck in the crossfire. With Obadiah, I don't think you want to be stuck out here," He explained quickly. "I know it's not easy and I don't expect you to be completely healed, but you need to know that we won't be stopping for many breaks."

I nodded slowly, attempting to realize the severity of the situation. It was just so hard to process all of this in such a short period of time. There was obviously no time for processing, but I wished that there was. I sat there for many moments, just thinking before I finally looked back to my brother.

"You tried to save him?" I asked, just to confirm my husband's fate.

He swallowed hard, hesitating to speak," Yes. I did try."

"And he was definitely dead?" I asked, wanting to confirm this without a doubt.

Once again, he paused before looking straight at me and nodding," Yes, he was."

And that was all I needed to know. I buried my head in my arms and let this reality sink in all over again. I tried to swallow back the tears once more, but this time they flowed out faster than I could hold them in. I felt my brother's arms around me as he held me close to him and kissed my head. I never cried harder in my life than I did sitting there next to him.

"Ostro, what am I going to do?" I blubbered, trying to come to terms with this reality. "How am I going to raise Obadiah without a father? How am I going to explain that to him?"

He smoothed my hair with his hand before whispering," You're going to be fine, Savera. He-"

It was almost as though he had no words for me for that moment. Finally, he spoke to me.

"You're going to find someone for Obadiah. For now, he has the five of us to be there for him. We can be his family for now," He whispered, as I rested my head on his chest.

"Ostro, I'm so glad you're here," I sobbed, remembering the fear I held for so many months, thinking he was dead. "I thought you were dead for so long."

He continued to smooth my hair before he said," That doesn't matter now, okay? We're going to get you to safety. I'm here now. I'm not going anywhere."

My life so far had been filled with loss. From Titus, my brother who had died in the Games, to my father and finally to Seneca, there weren't many constants that I could rely on, but Ostro was one of them. He always kept his word and even in those months when I thought he was gone, he still managed to do what he said he would: find District Thirteen. And though I couldn't appreciate it then, it made me love Seneca that much more for telling Ostro where to go. He had clearly wanted to keep my brother and mother safe, but more importantly he wished to keep his son and I safe.

I sat there with my brother for seemingly forever. Being held in his grasp was the only place I really felt safe. My emotions were spinning so quickly that I could hardly process all that my brother had told me. It would have been overwhelming enough to just see him alive again, but the combination of everything was a lot to process, to put it lightly.

"Will you look at something for me?" Ostro asked, after several moments of silence. I pulled my head up to look back at the camp where a fire was, now blazing, as they enjoyed their dinner. The sight was almost happy, if it were under different circumstances. "Do you see your son over there?"

I settled my eyes on the two- year old boy who had made friends with Tomas and Steele quickly. Already, the little boy was smiling as he sat on the lap of Steele, cackling as the man told him something that must have been hilarious. I had to smile at the sight of him showing so much joy.

"Yes, I do," I answered, simply.

"I know you know this, but he needs you now more than ever. He needs you to be strong; he needs you to be un-phased by this, do you understand?" Ostro asked me seriously, once more demanding my gaze.

I shook my head slightly," He has to learn of his father's death at some point, Ostro. I can't just never tell him what happened and pretend like everything is totally fine."

"You're missing what I'm saying," He said softly, pointing to the little boy. "He's young enough to where he quite possibly would never have to experience the pain of losing his father-"

"Are you insinuating that I never say anything?" I asked harshly, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Savera, if you move on with your life, then he's going to follow in your footsteps. He will adapt to anything at this age. Just keep your eyes open, that's all I'm asking. At this age, he just needs someone to take care of him, but if you introduce a male role model now…then he will never understand the full extent of the heartache. I don't expect you to be impenetrable now, obviously, but I just want to encourage you in this and remind you how young he is," He said to me, meaning the best, but it did seem a little fast to be introducing this thought.

"I know he's young, but I don't know if I'll ever find someone to replace Seneca, Ostro," I whispered, kissing his cheek softly before squeezing his hand and pulling myself to my feet, feeling that this conversation was over. It was more that I was horrified of the talk of moving on. All these years of my life, I had dedicated to Seneca. I couldn't start talking about finding a new father for Obadiah, not yet at least. In fact, it slightly angered me that he would even bring it up yet. I bit my tongue and said nothing more to him, partially because I knew that one day I would have to face that reality, but that day could wait. For a long time, as far as I was concerned.

Ostro said nothing, but only nodded his head as he came to his feet. I could tell that he knew not to say anything else on the matter because it was clearly a very fresh wound. He may have even felt he said too much, but he certainly wasn't going to try and mend it. Just as I was walking away to step down from the rock, I looked back at him. For a moment, in the moonlight, looking at my brother and seeing his ruffled dark hair, battered skin, and green eyes, I remembered back to when we were children. During the rest of the year other than Reaping, we would have so much fun together with Titus and our parents. I opened my mouth to comment on the memory, but I simply smiled at him and said," I'm glad to have you back, Ostro."

**A/N: So, here's the first chapter of the second installation of Savera's story! I am incredibly excited to write this. I would like to give a shout out to BooksMakeMagicForMe for agreeing to Beta this story. With that being said, please drop a review and let me know what you think of this first chapter. Just to let you know, I plan on making this story roll much faster than Alien. Thanks for reading! **


	2. A Rough Awakening

**Disclaimer: As you know, I own very little **

Chapter Two: A Rough Awakening

I fell asleep that evening inside of a dingy tent with a little boy curled up next to me and a young woman who flailed her arms in her slumber. It is needless to say that it took me a while to actually go to sleep. In total, I may have gotten two hours of restful slumber. I had so much else on my mind that sleeping didn't seem to be of importance. In fact, I sat there for who knows how long running my fingers through my son's dark hair as his soft snores echoed in the tent.

In the middle of the night, I heard rustling outside of the tent. It was nothing really, in retrospect and I could have been imagining it with my suffering mental state. However, I remember grabbing the blade that hung from Layla's belt in the corner of the tent. Silently, I slid myself from Obadiah's side, looking back to assure myself that Layla was just inches from him should he wake up. Plus, I would be back in a matter of minutes.

Almost as soon as I stepped out of the tent, I heard the rustling again. This time, however, it was the sound of footsteps. Granted, they were quite a distance from us, but they were still someone. I kept quiet and looked in the direction of the noise. From what I could gather, whatever it was, it was down by that river. Without a sound I made my way toward the river with the blade tucked carefully into the sleeve of my shirt. My heart was beating faster than my brain could process, but there was something kicking in inside my head that told me that something was wrong. I couldn't place my finger on it logically, but it was just a feeling.

As I came upon the river, I placed myself behind trees to look at what precisely was going on.

How strange that my heartbeat changed in a matter of seconds.

Peacekeepers were gathered around the river.

I steadied myself against the tree and looked up to the darkened night sky, hoping that this wasn't true. I bit down on my lip, looking at the blade in the dim light of the night sky. While the men were gathered around the river, I took the opportunity to take steps closer, "tree-hopping", if you will. I noticed that two of the men were taking their white, bulky uniforms off as they took advantage of the flowing river. In total, there were four men. There were two who were, as I mentioned, wading into the water and two who were lounged on the bank with a fire roaring.

"You really think we're gonna find these people?" One of them questioned, picking at his nails with a blade as he leaned back on a log.

"They're probably tracking them in the Capitol, as we speak. In fact, I bet they've got 'em now, they're just waiting for confirmation," The other answered, unlacing his boots before sticking his sock-covered feet by the fire. "Hell, those kids aren't smart enough to run from the Capitol."

"Smart enough?" The other asked, arching his brow. "I think you mean they're stupid enough to run from the Capitol. Ain't no way in heck I'd run away from there. It don't matter how much they pay me. Plus, I don't have a reason to leave. Strange, really. You'd think someone like Savera Crane wouldn't dare leave."

I swallowed hard at the mention of my name; I wished that this was simply a dream and there were not men who had the ability to kill us all only yards from our tents. Luckily, the ridge covered our hiding spot, but if these men came any closer, then they certainly would know where we were.

"Say, did Raoul ever return?" One of them asked, furrowing his brow as the other men doused themselves in the water.

"Oh, not yet. He said he heard something up over the ridge; thought he would check it out," The man from the river commented, splashing water on his face all the while.

At the sound of this, my heart stopped once again. Only this time, my blood started to pulse through my veins as I pictured everyone sleeping peacefully in the tents, only to be awoken by a handful of Peacekeepers who had seemingly come from nowhere. Most importantly, I had that image of my little boy sleeping on the side of the tent alone and waking up to a strange man coming to take him. How quickly would the others be able to respond? Finding that time was of the essence, I tiptoed out of earshot of these Peacekeepers to begin my route back up to our camp site which was now immediately on high alert in my head.

As I silently moved as quickly as I could through the trees and along the paths, I finally could see the tents on the ridge and began to breathe a sigh of relief when I saw no one causing harm. However, I had spoken far too soon. Just as I was taking the final steps to the camp, I heard a gasp. In a matter of seconds, I heard the footsteps ruffle once more from behind me. In the distance, I could hear the Peacekeepers moving once more, but when I turned my head back to the camp my eyes were met by a pair of bright blue eyes and a hand gun pointed square between my eyes.

It seemed as though Raoul had discovered us. And not only this, but he had my son in his arms with a gag wrapped around his mouth. There was an indescribable type of fear in that little boy's eyes as I stared at this man, too shocked to say much of anything else. If only I hadn't left, then perhaps I could have prevented this monster from placing his hands on Obadiah.

My nerves were already kicking in so terribly that my hand wielding the blade was shaking.

"Put down the weapon, Mrs. Crane," The man spoke tenderly, clearly not wishing to wake the others. "We can end this all right now if you just come back with us. Your little friends will not be harmed if you simply comply."

For a moment, I considered this option. However, I realized that I could not trust a single word this man said. He was willing to say anything to get me to stand down. Plus, I certainly didn't want to accept the fact that this journey had only just begun and we were already caught. Surely, the Capitol had not cracked this system hacking so quickly.

I looked into my son's eyes, seeing that he was on the verge of tears. I couldn't risk my life if I attempted to attack this man. With my spirit dampening, I nodded and slowly bent over to place my blade on the ground. I held eye contact with this man the whole time and tried to control the involuntary shaking taking place in my arms and legs. I watched as a smirk grew on his lips and he patted my son, whom he was holding in his arms, on the arm.

"You've got a smart mom, kid," He whispered, as I watched tears streaming down Obadiah's face as he started to cry into the gag.

Raoul, a dark-haired man with blue eyes, shot his icy glance at me, realizing the noise he was making. Just as we were turning to leave, he spat at me," Shut this kid up, Crane."

"Allow me to-"

Before I could say another word, Raoul's face had gone blank as he began blubbering senselessly. I saw that his stability was poor as he dropped the weapon in his hand and started to fall forward. Immediately, I ran up to catch him and grab Obadiah from his arms before he went crashing down with him. After this, I looked into the eyes of Steele.

Steele was practically a stranger to me, yet there he was, killing someone who wished to bring me harm. I stared into his brown eyes under only the light of the moon for several seconds before taking several steps toward him and placing my hand on his shoulder.

"I cannot-"

"Duck!" He commanded, pushing me aside as he swiftly grabbed the blade from my other hand and sent it flying through the air. "Tomas, Layla, Ostro! I need a little back up here!"

I looked over my shoulder to not only see men from the Peacekeeper camp coming up quickly, but also to hear their shouts as they started to overtake us. Gunshots were already being fired by them. Apparently, their search for Raoul led them directly to us.

In frenzy, the others woke themselves up and instantly wielded their weapons. I looked around for something to guard myself with, but Steele grabbed me by the arm and looked into my eyes," You get in a tent

"You get into a tent. You absolutely must, do you understand?"

"I want to-"

"No, you have a child that needs to be protected from this. Do you understand?" He spat out at me, gripping my arm tight as he directed me toward the tent that Layla was just throwing herself through. I held his gaze for several more seconds; I was in shock at the simple boldness of this statement and actually being told to sit out a confrontation.

There were not many times, as of late, that I had been able to do such.

At first, I felt slightly offended as I sat, rocking my child and unable to be directly involved in the safeguard of his protection. However, I forgot this as I kissed his forehead and rocked him back and forth to soothe his nerves. I also untied the gag from his mouth and let his head rest against my shoulder. During this time, my mind still wandered back to what was going on outside.

All this time, I had always taken it upon myself to be on the defensive. It strange to be told to sit out and not at least put forth an effort. Though I understood why Steele had been so straightforward, my mind could not fathom this passive behavior. A piece of me wished to be out there with them, while the other was glad to be the one holding my baby boy and kissing his forehead to tell him that it was going to be alright.

From the sounds of it, the Peacekeeper's attempt at an attack was shot down within a matter of minutes. Steele, again, stuck his head into the tent," They've cleared out for now. We think they may have been able to contact the Capitol, however, and we need to get to moving as fast as we can."

"Right," I answered quickly, nodding my head as he pulled out of the tent and allowed for both Obadiah and myself to exit the tent.

Almost as soon as I stepped out, I felt my brother's glare on me.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?" He barked at me as I continued to rock Obadiah.

Though it was still dark out, I could see the rage sparkling in his eyes as he narrowed in on me.

"I heard something, Ostro and needed to see what it was. I was trying to protect us," I answered meekly, feeling small under his commanding voice.

"Yeah? Well, did you think about the little boy at risk?" Ostro asked, just as demanding as before.

"Yes, but I honestly did not think I would be gone for that long, Ostro. He was with Layla; how was I supposed to know there was going to be a troupe of Peacemakers down there. And don't try to say that I attracted them either because I heard their conversations when they spoke of someone already being up here," I explained quickly, trying to make these four angry people see my logic.

"Listen, I think you need to start realizing how valuable you are. I know you have this new found nature to protect, but you need to let us do that," Ostro said with a very stiff overtone, as if he were restraining the brunt of his anger. "Your son could have been killed tonight."

I opened my mouth to protest, but Steele, who was finishing stuffing the tents into the bags, stood up and announced his finished project.

"We'll talk again soon, but now we're en route to District Six. They've arranged for us to pick up something while we are passing through there. For all future references, it may be smart to keep your son close to you and your brains intact. I know you're smart, Savera. Why don't you use it?" He growled at me before bending down to tie both of his shoes tight and start the journey in the opposite direction.

I looked back one time to see the bodies of these men who had already tried to wreak havoc on us. I then moved my eyes to my brother as he started marching away. I wanted to say something back to him, but there was a strange silence settling over me. I realized that this wilderness had the potential to be much more brutal than the Capitol itself; I looked back at the dead bodies, only to send shivers down my spine. This was a completely different game than any I had played before. If I wanted to succeed in this one, then I would have to pay less attention to my instinct and more to my protection of Obadiah. For argument's sake though, the reason why I had left was to protect Obadiah, but if I wanted to survive this time with my son and myself intact, then I would have to stay as low-key as possible.

**A/N: Thank you all for reading! I appreciate it greatly! Also thanks again to BooksMakeMagicForMe for reading over this and please let me know what you think **** Have a nice week everyone!**


	3. A Discovery

**Disclaimer: I own very little.**

Chapter Three: A Discovery

I remember honestly thinking that we would never see civilization again. Days felt like weeks. I was very impressed with how these trainees from District Thirteen were handling themselves though; they acted as if they were used to life in the wilderness and I knew that my brother certainly was not. With that being said, they must have taught him quickly. The leadership qualities were not as surprising, he always had those back in the academy in District Two. I always respected Ostro and found that most people did respect him, despite his relationship to me. It was something about his presence that demanded your attention.

Not only did I learn a little more about my brother in these weeks, I also learned more about Layla, someone who I had known as Crystal Vox for weeks.

"I've lived in District Thirteen for as long as I can remember," She said, one day, as we strolled through the plains of Panem in what used to be farmland. Though the land was still used for this, it was much sparser than before. "Everyone has some sort of a duty there. Mine just so happened to be helping out with the intelligence. It intrigued me, I guess."

"And what did you first do with their intelligence?" I asked, watching as Obadiah skipped through the fields, cackling all the way.

"Well, I made sure everyone had their juices and coffee in the morning. That was the first thing," She said with a smirk. "Then, I was moved up to intern and I was an irregular, I guess you could say. I did so well behind the computer that I was moved up quickly. Those two were in training for a position like this for many years. For as long as you worked with the Capitol, that's how long they worked for District Thirteen. Your brother just caught on fast, he discovered us one day and he's been a professional ever since."

"Ostro mentioned Seneca and so did you earlier. When did he become involved with District Thirteen affairs?" I asked, tucking my hair behind my ear as a strong gust blew over the plains.

It had taken me this long to even mention him. For many days, I did not dare even speak his name. It caused me so much pain to even think of him. However, during those long nights when I had nothing else to dwell on, my mind wandered to what Seneca could have possibly been keeping from me. In all honesty, I wanted to think that there was a lot that he hadn't told me. I mean, he had been able to organize this whole extravaganza without my knowledge.

At the mention of his name, Steele looked over his shoulder at Layla, a look of warning on his face. She turned her gaze to me and muttered as he turned away," I'm not in the best position to delve into those details yet, but he's been involved for as long as I can remember. Even when he was young, he discovered us. Listen, I'm really in no position to say much else-"

I laughed humorlessly at this," He was my husband and yet I can't know this?"

"It's just that Seneca's involvement was very, very classified information. At one point, anyone caught even speaking his name outside of locked doors would have been punished severely. Amongst us intelligence, he was a grand man who was aiding our quest to conquer the Capitol, but amongst the other residents of District Thirteen…he was feared. He was a Capitol man; Capitols were not to be trusted," She explained under her breath to me. She emphasized the last part very strongly.

"Who's to say they're going to welcome me with open arms then?" I asked, meeting her blue eyes.

She swallowed hard and opened her mouth to answer, but paused for a moment. She took several moments of silence before saying," That's precisely what we're nervous about. However, you will be escorted by the lot of us. They will believe anything that we tell them, or rather what Coin tells them. That's the president, by the way, President Alma Coin."

I raised my brow at this before nodding," Ah, so they've a leader too. Is she an improvement upon President Snow?"

Again there was silence, as if she were in a trance, but she soon realized her paused and cleared her throat," Oh, of course. S-she's much better. Much."

Her answer wasn't exactly confident. I made mental note of this and before I could ask her any more, Obadiah was slowing down and I quickly ran back to pick him up, placing him on my shoulders for the remainder of the walk. When I came back, Layla was walking up beside my brother. It was still strange to see her without the blue hair; I shouldn't have been so surprised that it was only a hair piece and her real hair was long, brown, and curly.

BREAK

When we set up camp for the night, Ostro, Tomas, and Layla had wandered off to find some sort of food. By this point, we had reached the edge of the plains and were nearing a forest. It wasn't anything too spectacular, but they hoped it would have something worthwhile in it. Our supplies were running low after a long trek through the mountains and bare plains.

"Momma?" Obadiah asked, picking up a stick and showing it to me as if it were the finest thing he had ever seen. This transition for him had been very rough, to put it mildly. He was used to luxury and the wilderness led to many nights of tears and fits. Any time he was laughing was a memory to be cherished.

"Oh, yes. Stick," I said to him, pointing at his new toy.

"Stick?" He repeated, as if he didn't believe me.

"Yes, stick," I confirmed, smiling as he examined the branch.

Steele, who was sitting on a log just across from me, called Obadiah over to him. In these weeks, Obadiah had warmed up to everyone in our group. Currently, the dark-haired man was holding something in his hands. He and Obadiah had become quite the companions and the two-year-old thought it was always a treat when Steele wanted to speak with him. In all honesty, I hadn't said much to Steele ever since the incident at the beginning of our trek with the Peacekeepers. I tried to keep my distance from him, but in a group of five adults and a toddler, it's hard to keep away.

"To mommy?" The little boy asked, trying to keep down giggles.

"Yes, to mommy," Steele confirmed, glancing over at me before transferring whatever it was in his hands to my son. I could tell by the look on the man's face that he was up to something.

Obadiah could hardly contain his giggles as he trotted back over to me, beaming from ear to ear. I kept an eye on Steele, wondering what this could mean, before returning my eyes to my son's blazing blue ones. He was filled with this innocent joy as he cupped his hands around mine, giggling as he opened his hands and dropped something incredibly slimy into my hands. I squealed at the feel of this and looked down to see a large, grimy worm in my hands. Not expecting this texture, I dropped the critter to the ground as Obadiah scurried over to Steele, who was giving him a high five.

I narrowed my eyes at him," Very mature."

"Oh, please. A little worm never hurt anyone," He answered, his lips turning upward into a smile as Obadiah perched himself on the man's lap. "The victor of the 64th annual Hunger Games afraid of a little worm?"

I had to chuckle at this boyish trick. In the weeks I had known this man, I knew very little about his past, but I knew that he had a certain charm about him. Now, don't take that the wrong way, but he was charismatic. But at the same time, he had a good head on his shoulders. Clearly, from the first night, I could tell that he wasn't one for stupidity or even anything that seemed remotely unintelligent. He certainly was a protector which wasn't at all a bad thing. In fact, after all the risks that I had lived through with Seneca, being around people who wanted to stick to a plan was rather comforting. Now, I suppose that isn't entirely accurate seeing as they were part of a rebellion against a very powerful Capitol, but there was no reason for me to feel unsafe in their hands.

I rolled my eyes," Please, I've seen far worse than a worm, as I'm sure you can imagine."

He kept that smirk on his lips as he bounced Obadiah on his leg," Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

Never did I think that a worm would be a conversation starter for a personal question.

I avoided his eye for a moment before looking at him, fearing what he may say," Yes. What is it?"

He started to speak, but then shook his head," No, I probably shouldn't with him here-"

"Oh, really it's-"

"Obadiah! I've got something to show you!" Ostro called from several yards behind us, coming from the woods with what appeared to be game in his hands. Almost instantly, the little boy jumped from Steele's leg to run and greet his uncle. In a way, it was a good thing for us to be in this position. Obadiah was being able to meet the uncle he never knew before. It was sweet to see their relationship blossom.

Steele's eyes looked back to mine as he stood up. Just as he did this, Ostro and the others came strolling back and began to drop all of their supplies. Ostro went off to show Obadiah one of the animals he got while Tomas looked back to Steele.

"Can you run down to the gorge over there? We need water, but uh, we sort of have our hands full. Shouldn't be too far of a walk," He asked, dropping his supplies on the ground as he pulled out the tents from their bags.

"Sure, uh, Savera would you mind going with me?" Steele asked, picking up a bucket from Tomas's supplies.

"Of course. Tomas, can you keep an eye on Obadiah? Not that I don't trust Ostro, but just don't let him out of your sight," I said, looking at the other man who was starting to put up the tents.

From the distance, laughter could be heard and Tomas looked up at me," I think he'll be just fine."

I smiled before nodding and turning to walk down to this gorge with Steele.

At first, the silence was incredibly awkward. I remember sticking my hands in my pockets, hoping that something would cut this long period of silence. After all, he had mentioned that he needed to ask me something. It was for this reason that I was slightly uncomfortable and confused.

"How old is Obadiah? Two? Three?" He finally asked after several moments, breaking the silence.

"He's two, almost three," I answered.

"Wow," He muttered under his breath before looking back at me. "He's too young to have gone through all this."

I nodded," In all fairness, you aren't really ever old enough to go through what he has. I guess I'm just thankful he's young. Hopefully, this can be blocked out from his memory."

As we continued through the forest, I learned a little bit more about Steele. Conversation flowed a bit more naturally, but it was still broken at times. Maybe it was unfair to him, but I still didn't feel completely comfortable around men since Seneca. It had been, I don't know how many weeks, since Seneca's death and yet there weren't very many moments that passed when my mind wasn't wandering to him. That aside, this gorge was much farther than Tomas made it out to be.

"Is he sure there's water down here?" I asked, as we pushed farther into the forest. It wasn't dark yet, but it would be soon.

"They had to have seen it. Trust me, it's not like Tomas to take anything for granted," He said with confidence as we continued on.

"Oh yeah?" I asked, stepping over a branch. "You and Tomas known each other for a while?"

He nodded," We've known each other since childhood. Believe it or not, we haven't always been friends though. Growing up in District Thirteen, we were sort of the opposite. He was very much into learning in classes and I was more…well, I wasn't focused on classes. I got bored far too easy."

I chuckled at this. Finally, in the distance, I could see what appeared to be a gorge.

"How about you? You like school up there in District Two?" He asked, shooting me a glance.

I laughed at this. It had been so long since I actually talked about my life in Two. As a matter of fact, I enjoyed keeping those memories repressed. My life in the Capitol was a great deal more glamorous than my time growing up. Of course, I loved my family and my time spent with my siblings, but there had been a lot that happened in that time between then and now. In that time, I had not only been exposed to a new lifestyle, but I also did a lot of personality adjustments. Whether I liked it or not, the Capitol and Games taught me a lot about myself and people in general.

I shook my head, bringing myself back to reality and the question still hanging in the air.

"Oh, well. It was…interesting," I said quietly, looking down at my feet.

I felt his eyes lingering on me, waiting for more of an answer.

"School wasn't all that bad, it was the required training. I wasn't exactly the strongest person there, if you can imagine," I joked as we came within yards of the gorge.

"The victor of the Hunger Games? Not the strongest in her class?" He teased, climbing over a fallen tree en route to the tree. As he climbed over and got to the other side, I followed close behind. Just as I was to jump down, I noticed him standing just on the other side of the log. I met his green eyes then stared at his hand, offering me assistance.

I should have just taken his hand and thought nothing about it, but I stood there for several seconds simply looking at him. In my mind, I couldn't help but think that even by accepting this kind gesture from another man…it was childish of me to think. I shook my head and muttered an apology before placing my hand into his, allowing myself to be steadied before hopping down to the forest floor.

"Yes, between this and the bug, we have established that I am not a perfect victor. Any other criticisms?" I asked, several moments later, trying to pick up on the conversation from before.

By this point, we were nearly at the river. Steele smirked at me once before shaking his head," Oh no, of course not."

With that, he sprinted off to get water from the flowing gorge. As he did that, I smiled at his response, but also noticed something just beyond the gorge. There was some sort of fence up; it wasn't very sturdy seeing as there were large holes all along the wall. Initially, I couldn't entirely tell if it was a fence or not. It was camouflaged with heavy shrubbery growing on and around it. Several steps closer told me that it was indeed a wall. Slowly, I stepped on a few protruding rocks from the river and crossed to the other side where the wall lay. Steele was distracted with gathering water as I moved closer to this barrier. Intrigued, I furrowed my brow as I quickened my pace and came face-to-face with this rickety wall.

I looked back over my shoulder to see Steele still distracted with the gorge. I could hear him saying something, but my sights were not set on this. I placed my hand on the wall before kneeling down to catch a glimpse into what lay behind the tall barrier. As soon as I saw it, I gasped.

"Steele!" I called, stunned at where we were.

**A/N: Let me know what you guys think! Thanks for reading so far! Where do you think they are? **

**Thanks again to BooksMakeMagicForMe :)**


	4. Too Close for Comfort

**Disclaimer: I own very little, as you know by this point.**

Chapter Four: Too Close for Comfort

My jaw seemed to hang ajar for many seconds as Steele left his perch at the river to glance at what I was peering at. As he arrived behind me, I took several steps back and shook my head. I refused to come to terms with what I was witnessing. Perhaps it was silly of me to be so emotionally distraught by the sight of District Six's town square. It wasn't just the square, but rather the spectacle taking place in the square. Being out of civilization for several months took my mind off of the harsh reality taking place within the district walls.

"We would like to thank the Capitol for allowing us to be here today," A female voice which I had only previously heard on the television spoke. Though I was not looking through the hole, I could see hear her echoing voice pristinely from where I stood, now with my back against the wall.

Steele swore under his breath before pulling away from the hole.

"They're already at Six," He mumbled, running his fingers through his hair. "Our supplies will already be gone by this point."

Once again, he let out a string of curses as he paced around. As he paced, I stepped back behind the hole and peered into the celebrating district. Celebrating was certainly a light term seeing as the looks on the citizens of District Six were anything but excited. From the large number of Peacekeepers present, there appeared to be tense relations between the people and the Capitol. Their attendance at this event certainly did not appear to be voluntary.

I stood there, listening to Katniss read from notecards. From what I could tell, she was being fed nearly each and every one of her words. For someone who threatened the Capitol as much as she had, she was certainly very complimentary of them. Then again, if I were the Capitol, then I would be giving her a crisp, clean script, as well.

As I looked at her face from the distance in the large projector screen, I couldn't help but once again think back to Seneca and all the times that he had encouraged me how unique she was. In that moment, it was almost as if he were standing right there next to me, his breath creeping down my neck as I continued to look through the hole. I could imagine him placing a hand on my shoulder and whispering to me," She's the one, Savera. She's going to change this for all of us. Can't you see?"

As vivid as his image was, several blinks showed me that the hand on my shoulder was, in fact, Steele urging me to follow him back to the camp.

I shook my head, reminding myself that Seneca wasn't really there and nodded to Steele. Slowly, I pulled myself from the image of the city. District Six, aside from Katniss and Peeta, was a much humbler establishment than District Two was. From what I had heard, Six was where nearly all forms of transportation in Panem came from, yet none of the people enjoyed travelling and avoided it at all costs. There were also rumors of a running morphling addiction in the population of Six. Though I hadn't personally witnessed it, I remembered seeing replays of a boy from Six resorting to cannibalism during the Games.

Thankfully, I was not old enough to watch those Games. However, the tapes and stories that speak of him are just as haunting.

The Capitol may have been into some strange fads, but cannibalism wasn't one of them. The boy was exterminated quickly and certainly not allowed to win. His execution was yet another symbol of the Capitol's ruthless power over the rest of us. Don't mistake me for meaning that I support cannibalism, but it was the thought process behind it. Ideally, the boy should have had an equal chance at winning, the same as any of the other tributes, but because his mental state during the Games sent him to cannibalism; he was destroyed. He was different; grossly different, but because of his exoticism; he was killed. Though it seemed strange, I couldn't help but apply the same concept to Seneca. He was, by no means, on the grotesque level of cannibalism, but he was different.

The sight of District Six and the victory speech taking place simply reiterated one thing: different was not to be applauded nor strived for. Conformity was key.

How ironic then that two of the most rebellious symbols in Panem were standing atop of a stage in six with the Capitol's emblem floating behind them on the large screen.

Just as we were walking away, I heard the speeches come to an end. At the sound of silence, loud outbursts from the crowd suddenly erupted through the trees. I swallowed and paused for a moment, hearing the people start what sounded like a riot at the conclusion of the victors' speech. I met Steele's eye briefly before continuing on, pretending as though the vibrations of their voices meant nothing to me.

* * *

"What do you mean they're at Six?" Ostro barked, as soon as Steele and I arrived back at camp. "Did you at least get water?"

"I got some," Steele answered, dropping the bucket at his feet as he pulled his dirty, tattered over-shirt off, leaving him in an equally tattered tank top. "But not much to stay here for long. If the victors are already here, they've amped up their security. We can't stay here for long."

"Yes, I am brutally aware of that now," He groaned, running his hands through his hair before standing up, nearly knocking over the bucket of water as he came to his feet. Clearly, this was not a part of his otherwise well-planned trip to make it back to District Thirteen. With another string of swears he stormed off into the darkness, leaving the rest of us sitting there staring at one another. Layla, who had been playing with Obadiah, looked at me before letting out a sigh.

I stood up to go after my brother, but just as I began she stepped towards me and grabbed my arm.

"Let me go," She insisted, looking straight into my eyes. "I can talk to him."

I was taken a back slightly by this, but simply nodded my head and let her stroll on by me before sprinting to chase after my brother who was already out in the clearing. I sat back down slowly as Obadiah came running toward me, climbing onto my lap to tell me all about what he had done. As I listened to his stories, I kept one eye on the field. Though it was getting dark, I could still see the extreme upset in Ostro's body language as Layla tried to calm him down. I saw her reach out her hand and place it gently on his arm.

At this, my eyes turned over to Tomas, who was seeing the same thing I was," What's the big deal with Six?"

He stopped hacking away at the stick he was holding in his hands for a moment and looked at me seriously," We had scouts from Thirteen there who were going to meet us for further direction. They had instructions for how to get into the district the safest way. Apparently, security in the area has been amped up since the Games."

I nodded," So, we don't know how to get to Thirteen?"'

He bit down on his lip," More or less. We can get there, but we don't know if it's safe."

I said nothing this time, but simply looked away.

"And the scouts that were here only had until the victors arrived to stay. When the victors got here, security was nearly doubled and not necessarily the place for a couple trying to stay invisible. When the Capitol comes, as I'm sure you know, they leave very few stones unturned. They warned us before that if we took too much time, then…we would be putting the spies in jeopardy of being discovered or stranded in Six. That's why he's so beat up," Tomas explained after several moments of silence.

"They're smart kids though," Steele chipped in as he took a seat on the ground, pulling his boots off almost immediately. "There's a chance they're alright. But that doesn't mean your brother's going to take it any easier on himself."

"He's got Layla; he'll be fine," Tomas muttered under his breath, barely audible to rest of us as he shot a glance out to the field. Quickly, he shook his head and tossed aside his stood up and took several steps forward as if at a loss for what he was supposed to do next before looking between Steele, Obadiah, and I and saying," I'll be in the tent, if you need me."

As strange as it was, he climbed into the tent and said nothing more. I narrowed my eyes, knowing I wanted to comment on this. Before I could say anything, Steele nodded, as if reading my thoughts. He stood up and moved closer to me, taking a seat on the ground beside me. I was certainly not expecting such a reaction from the very intelligent, somewhat introverted Tomas.

"Him and Layla used to-well they used to have a 'thing'. They were pretty serious for a while," He mumbled to me, the sun was inching closer and closer to the horizon by the minute. "No one really knows what happened, but she seems to have taken a liking to your brother."

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing," I whispered, keeping my eyes on the field.

"It's good. She took the hit worse than Tomas did, trust me. We never thought that she was going to go back to normal and then Ostro came along. I don't think they're anything but friends now, but he's been nothing but positive for her. Honestly, she was at a level of depression that I've never seen before," He muttered to me.

"Why did they split in the first place?"

"We don't bring it up," He said shortly.

I turned my head to look at him," What?"

He scoffed," Any time anyone mentions it, we get yelled at by one of them. Neither of them wants to talk about it, therefore, no one asks. It's a simple philosophy."

I nodded slowly, hesitantly accepting this before asking," How'd they get stuck on this mission together?"

He laughed, leaning back on his elbows before looking at me, shrugging casually," They're the best at what they do. District Thirteen wouldn't dare send anyone else to hack the Capitol's computers and fake an identity."

I nodded, accepting this to be the truth. Both of them did seem admirable in their skill sets and I was in no position to argue with that. Rather than continue this conversation, I adjusted Obadiah on my lap so that I could stand up. He had been squirming all through the conversation and at this point was getting restless. I didn't wish to keep him up for much longer. Finding this break in conversation to be ideal, I stood up and looked down at Steele, still on the ground," I'll be back in a minute. I just need to put him to sleep."

"Take your time," He said before extending his legs and putting his hands behind his head. "I wouldn't get him too comfortable though; I'd assume our fearless leader will have a plan to get out of here as soon as he's calmed down."

"Right," I nodded, taking a look out to the field, letting everything sink in. I wondered for a moment about Layla's past, but then Obadiah let out a loud whine and started squirming. Even if our position in such close proximity to Six was problematic, this child needed his sleep for the time being. It was for this reason that I had no problem climbing into the tent and laying down next to him, whispering softly, saying whatever necessary in order to get him to settle down.

Obadiah was no different than any other child when it came to bed time; he hated it. He certainly wasn't well-behaved enough to stay away, but he didn't want to go to sleep when it came time. He fought me for a long time before finally forfeiting the battle and letting his heavy eyelids close on his tear-stained eyes. I laid next to him, just watching him even after he fell asleep. Every day with him was a blessing, especially now with our lives in immediate danger. There was hardly a minute that went by when I wasn't worried or concerned about his safety. Many times, I wondered why I even listened to Layla in the first place when she came to pick me up from the ground of the security building where Seneca was killed.

I wondered why I couldn't have just been left alone. Just as I think that, I remember them mentioning our home being invaded by Peacekeepers as we were fleeing the city. It was then that I also recalled Snow's desire to destroy not only Seneca, but also me for not being able to contain him. It was at times such as these that I would let out a sigh and wonder just how Snow was able to swallow the fact that he had been fooled twice by people far less superior than the Capitol. Just as these thoughts were flowing through my mind, I saw the tent's entrance pushed open as Steele popped in his head.

He spoke softly, but urgently," You may want to step out here for a moment. There's something you need to see."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please, please let me know what you think! I am almost done with school and will have a lot more time to write when I'm done. What do you think she needs to see and what's in store for the future? Shout out to BooksMakeMagicForMe for beta-ing. **


	5. Intruder

**A/N: I own very little. **

Chapter Five: Intruder

I glanced over at Obadiah, who was still fighting sleep. If I were to get up at that moment, then I would surely wake him up. After realizing this, I met Steele's eye. Without saying a word, he seemed to realize the dilemma. He nodded slowly, but began to tenderly open the entrance to the tent more widely. I furrowed my brow as I sat up on my elbows, watching what he was doing. When he had the entrance opened as far as it could go, he motioned for me to get up. I shook my head, reluctant at first.

"Savera, I have to insist," He whispered, as I felt Obadiah turn as he was settling into slumber.

I looked at the little boy, who pulled the blanket closer to him. Carefully, I pushed myself into an upright sitting position from my elbows. Just as I was getting up to exit the tent, Steele spoke to me once more.

"I'll stay with him," He assured me as I started to climb out of the tent.

It never occurred to me how little room there is to get out of a tent until I was face to face with the man who had opened it in the first place. Realizing the awkwardness of this situation and clear violation of personal space, I cleared my throat and managed to position myself in a more comfortable position to get out of the tent. Steele looked back at me as soon as I had gotten up and said," He'll be fine."

As I straightened up, I said," Oh, I'm sure he will be. It's just that…"

I trailed off, not finding the right words to end my sentence. I shook my head, trying to clear my head of what I was thinking. My selfishness told me that I was sick of having someone else take care of my child for me. It seemed that I couldn't do anything for him, but rather had to be separated from him while someone else watched him and I dealt with the other business. It was a stupid jealousy and I tried to push it from my head; I should have been thankful that he was asleep.

Just as I said this…

"Mommy?" A small voice from inside the tent asked, a thick tone of confusion in his voice.

At the sound of his voice, I forgot what I was focused on achieving and turned to climb back into the tent. When I opened the tent, Steele met my eyes again, realizing what I had heard. I then turned my gaze to my son, who was sitting up with teary eyes. Before I could even get into the tent, he had jumped up and thrown himself at me, tossing his arms around my neck as soon as I crouched down to be on his level. As he embraced me, Steele held my eye for a moment before shaking his head as he looked away. I didn't entirely know what he meant by this, but I ignored it and paid attention to my frightened child.

"What's wrong, Obi?" I asked, prying him off slowly to place my forehead against his. He was on the verge of tears spilling from his eyes.

"You were gone," He spluttered, still clearly frightened. "Gone."

"Baby, I'm right here," I whispered to him, kissing his cheek softly as a single tear slipped from his eyes. "I'll always be here, don't you worry. I just had to go check on something to keep you safe."

"Stay now?" He asked, as I wiped away the tear.

I looked at Steele's stern look on his face before looking back to Obadiah. Looking down, almost ashamed of myself, I looked back at him. His blue eyes were still sparkling from the remaining firelight behind me. I placed my hands on either side of his face, realizing the answer would not be one that he would want to hear.

I swallowed, gathering the words to answer him," Darling, right now I need to go check something. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"B-but why?"

"Baby, I-" I started, but Steele sat up, tenderly bringing himself into the conversation.

"Your mommy has to go take care of some very, very important business, Obadiah. She wants to keep you safe, that's why she needs to go," He said, placing his hand on Obadiah's shoulder. "I'll stay with you while she goes, bud."

Obadiah looked back, looking Steele over before glancing back at me, as if asking for my approval. I smiled reassuringly and grabbed his hands, forcing him to face me again," He'll stay with you, Obi. You like Steele, right?"

He stared at me blankly for several seconds before leaning forward to whisper in my ear," You come back. Promise?"

My heart melted at this as I looked at him and stuck out my pinky finger. He looked at me confused for a moment, but he quickly remembered this trick that I had just taught him weeks before. Slowly, he stuck out his finger and wrapped it around my pinky. He smirked at this and once more, I pulled him into a bear hug, kissing his cheek and neck as he started giggling. I ruffled his hair once more before standing up, knowing that I needed to speak with Ostro.

"Good night, mommy," He said quietly, turning to lie down beside Steele.

"Obi?" I called out just as he was turning.

He looked up at me.

"You know that I never really go anywhere really, right?" I asked him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"But-"

"Obadiah, you know where you can always find me," I said softly, keeping my eyes locked in his. I slowly moved my hand up to my heart before reaching out to tap on his. "Right here. In your heart."

He stopped and came closer to me for a moment. I held my hand over his heart and said softly," Mommy. Heart."

Just as I thought he was going to let me go, I put his hand over my hand before meeting my eye again and saying," Daddy too?"

At this point, I felt my entire body sinking away. He hadn't officially asked about his father since it all happened. I didn't know how to respond and simply stood there, staring at him blankly for several moments. Of course, I knew what he was referring to, but I didn't want to answer that. I didn't want him to verbally remember his father; in fact, I selfishly hoped that he could move on so that he would never have to experience the pain of being separated from his father. Him uttering those words were proof that he could still remember his dad or at least the idea of him.

Just as Steele was pulling Obadiah to bed, I reached out to grab Obadiah's arm. I didn't want him to not have an answer. I swallowed hard and mustered up the strength to answer his simple question," Yes. Daddy too. Right here."

I think that Steele could sense the tension I was feeling, therefore, he urged Obadiah back to his bed. After bidding me goodbye, he and Obadiah waved to me as I left.

In the same instant that I was pulling myself together, I heard a groan of frustration from out in the field. Clearly, something had happened with Ostro. I couldn't see much as night had settled upon us, but I pulled my lightweight, tattered sweater closer to my body before trekking out to the field to see what was disturbing my brother and Layla. Almost as soon as my silhouette was visible to him, he addressed me.

"Hey Savera," He greeted, his voice tense as he looked at me. I could barely see him, the only light was from the moon shining above.

"Is something wrong, Ostro?" I asked softly, crossing my arms.

"Potentially," He said simply, running his fingers through his hair that was the longest I had ever seen it. "Is Obadiah asleep?"

"Ostro, we don't have time for small talk," Layla muttered, pacing nervously several feet from us. She had been silent until this point and I probably wouldn't have even noticed her presence had it not been for her comment.

"Is he asleep?" Ostro asked, very articulate this time.

I furrowed my brow, wondering why it was of such essence. I looked back over my shoulder, remembering the conversation I had just had with him.

"He was about to go to sleep. Then Steele told me to come out here, just before I could get away he woke up, but he should be asleep by now. He feels comfortable with Steele."

"Good, then I can say this safely," He said, raising his voice ever so slightly. "Savera, you know that we have to get out of here. We're far too close to Six right now and need to place as much distance between ourselves and the cameras as possible.

I would like to think that they aren't going to be paying much attention to us, but I never know with Capitol security. It doesn't help that we found this just moments ago."

He reached down in his pocket and pulled out something. I couldn't tell precisely what it was due to the lack of light, but he placed it in my hand, instructing me to press a button. On the small device, a screen began to glow a single number," 13." I recognized the device as one from the Capitol networks. In fact, I played an important role in designing this particular model, but I didn't know the meaning or symbolism behind this and simply looked at my brother for some sort of an explanation.

"This was a device from the Capitol's security network. I designed it myself, but where did you find this? I mean, did you bring it along with you or…?" I tried, but he cut me off.

"We found it just yards from where we're standing now. It wasn't buried or anything which means that it's fresh. It's fairly clean too, but here's the worst part. When we left, we programmed all of their computers to say 12 in order to spur thoughts of revolt building in their outer district. We thought that if we could show the Capitol that this whole security breach was inside of Panem, then they would do the work of fighting back for us," He said, very quickly.

I was silent, filled with mixed emotions.

"You, as in District Thirteen, were trying to spark revolution from within Panem. Seneca was in favor of this operation?" I asked simply, turning to meet his eye.

"Seneca was in favor of District Thirteen starting a revolution," Layla answered, crossing her arms.

"Ah, but this is a little different, don't you think? You are manipulating a revolution, not coming out and doing it yourself. You are protecting yourself at the expense of others, would you say so? Clearly, your operation was foiled. Someone must have said something," I said simply, looking to both of them for an answer.

"A revolution is a revolution," Ostro shot back quietly.

"But it doesn't matter who starts it? You see, suppose the Capitol took out its rage on District Twelve and actually did what it claimed to have done to Thirteen, assuming Thirteen is actually still around and you all aren't just leading me on a wild goose chase?" I spat out, just as quickly. "Is that a revolution you'd want to be proud of? Knowing you cost thousands of people their lives."

"People are going to die in wars. We were looking for a way to set people over and to show the Capitol that they were not unbeatable. I don't think that there was any shame in it," He answered, stuck in his answer.

I looked at him, shocked at his lack of dignity. For a moment, I was in awe of the manner in which they were going to do this. It wasn't reputable and it certainly didn't sound like something that Seneca would support. I paced around for several minutes, saying nothing. Many scenarios were running through my head of how I was to support something that already sounded corrupt. They weren't willing to take the leap themselves; they were going to hide behind the blood shed of others. If District Twelve led the revolution, then other Districts would surely follow and Thirteen would have very little losses, but likely be welcome to step in when the majority of the work was done. Perhaps, I was reading too far into it, but it appeared that this was the mindset of the rebels.

"But there's a certain honor in taking responsibility for your actions and initiating your own conflict where necessary. I don't think its honorable to hide behind others to fight your battles. Think about it Ostro. Would you have ever allowed me to fight one of your battles at the academy for you?" I challenged, shoving my hands in my pockets.

He swallowed, searching for an answer," No, but that's totally-"

"Is it? You wouldn't allow me to fight for you for a valuable ranking. And if I was going to go through with it and you knew I hadn't a chance of winning, then you'd help me," I said severely, holding my gaze, unblinking. "I see no difference in allowing these people to fight your battle with the Capitol."

"Savera, you don't completely understand the situation in Twelve. People are already raising their brows at Katniss, thinking that she is defying the Capitol. Now, in our opinion, she was. How wrong are we really if we're just confirming what everyone is already suspecting?" Layla added, placing her hand back on my brother's arms.

"I don't? Interesting. You see I've spent a lot of time mulling over the Capitol's opinion of Katniss. Trust me, I understand the situation in Twelve, Layla or Crystal, or whatever your real name is, but what I'm speaking of here is honor. You're trying to take over Panem in order to change it, but your mindset is entirely self-centered in this. You're not going to be making any sort of a change if you hide behind someone who's innocent-"

"They're not innocent, Savera! You know they must want this just as badly-"

"Have you asked them?" I shot out, taking several steps toward him. "Have you asked if they are willing to wage war on your sake? Have their men, women, and children killed because of your lack of bravery?"

This must have really set him off. The look of anger boiling in his eyes was unlike anything I had seen before and just as he was coming closer to me, he swallowed again and shook his head. He turned away from me to look at Layla," We need to get out of here. We're wasting time."

"Hey, I'm speaking to you, Ostro!" I barked at him, grabbing his arm.

"And I'm telling you to stop before you regret something you say," He spoke sharply as Layla started to turn away.

"You wished to speak to me and now-"

Before I could open my mouth to speak again, there was a single, ear-piercing scream from behind us at the tents. Suddenly, my anger that was building toward my brother was erased as my eyes shot over to the tents, outlined only by the moonlight overhead and the last of the fire burning down. I didn't even know how to react; I was paralyzed. In front of me, my nightmares were coming to life as I watched Steele being grabbed and pushed out of the tent where he lay with Obadiah. Immediately, my senses shot to life as I started to sprint toward them, but my brother nearly tackled me to stop me. He grabbed my arm before wrapping his arms around me to keep me from going anywhere.

A matter of seconds had changed my mind from being preoccupied with my brother, to being downright frantic about protecting my child.

"What are you doing?" I demanded. "That's my son, I have to-"

"Savera, there's nothing you can do. If we make too much noise-"

"Let…me…go!" I cried, pushing him off of me as he was distracted and I began sprinting toward the campsite.

The scream heard moments ago echoed once more. I recognized the crying of my son that followed, which sent adrenaline rushing through my veins. At this point, there was nothing that could convince me to stop. Seconds later, when I came to the edge of the camp, I was immediately seized by a man much larger than myself. Moments later, I heard Ostro and Layla coming to my aid, but upon their arrival, a troop of several Peacekeepers came from behind the trees. Several quick glances told me that we were surrounded and that they had caught us very off guard. Though I squirmed and moved to get out of his grasp, I felt a blade placed against my neck and immediately tried to ease my movements. As they noticed Layla and Ostro, they pointed their weapons at them, forcing their hands in the air.

"We've come for the boy. If you give us the boy then there will be no issues here."

**A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I would love to hear some feedback, haven't heard anything from anyone in a while so let me know if you're liking this or not! I spend a lot of time and thought writing these chapters so please let me know if you like it or not-so-much. Alright, well I'm officially on summer break and have more time for reading! Happy Monday to all and thanks again to BooksMakeMagicForMe :)**


	6. Coming to Terms

**A/N: It's been awhile! I still own very little ****:)**

Chapter Six: Coming to Terms

They had seemingly come out of nowhere. I hadn't heard a single footstep or branch crack that would have indicated their arrival. For a moment, I was convinced that we were in a dream. Certainly, it couldn't be true that men in white uniforms were holding my son in their grasp. I tried to sift through the many thoughts flooding through my head, but nothing that made sense could settle itself in.

"Take me. If Snow wants someone, then he wants me, not him," I spluttered before I even realized what I was saying.

One of the masked men looked at me from behind his shielded face and shook his head," We're under strict orders here."

"But he hasn't done anything wrong. You've been looking for-"

The man raised a finger to me," I've heard enough. Take the boy and clear out camp. We're under a time schedule here, men."

At that moment, all of my rational thought and senses went haywire. I tried to throw myself at the tent to prevent anything from happening, but I felt Ostro's grip preventing me from moving anywhere. I flailed against his arms holding me back, forgoing any sense that was within me. I don't know how long I fought to get to him, but it finally sunk in that this wasn't a dream and it was really happening. I had this moment of realization when they pulled him from the tent and his blue eyes flitted around, desperately searching for mine. When they met mine, he reached his hand out for me.

"Mom!" He cried, but before he could say anything else, they injected him with some sort of needle.

I gasped and felt an entirely new level of anger. I tried once more to jerk out of my brother's arms to no success. My heart became heavier at the sight of Obadiah falling unconscious onto the Peacekeeper's shoulder. My mouth dropped open as I found no words which were appropriate. The one thing I held most dear to me was being taken from me right before my eyes. I glared at their leader, holding his gaze and biting down on my lip to stop myself from saying anything. Just as they were heading out, Ostro spoke.

"This is your only business? To take a little boy who is of no use to the Capitol?" Ostro barked, demanding the man's attention.

The Peacekeeper turned to meet his gaze," I take orders from President Snow. If it were up to me, all your asses would be heading to Capitol right now, but he didn't want all of you. He wanted the kid and the kid is what he's going to get."

"I find it hard to believe that he has no interest in us," Ostro spat back.

The man stepped to him, "Better believe it. I wasn't told to take you anywhere. I'm following orders."

"We committed crimes against the Capitol; you have nothing against us?" He asked, trying to get us to be taken with him. I think he was trying to reunite us with Obadiah rather than allow him to be taken by himself. If he was to be taken, then we all should have been.

The man stood there silent for several moments before motioning behind him. One of the other Peacekeepers handed him a torch with fire burning at the end of it. The man looked at Ostro, indifferent for several moments before he inched the torch closer to the fabric. Finally, he touched it to it as flames engulfed the tent. As if it were nothing, he passed the torch behind him and gave a simple order," Set fire to the other tents and supplies you find."

He turned his attention back to Ostro," You reminded me of what I was supposed to do with you if you gave me problems. I suppose I should be thanking you, but you could have prevented that by simply complying."

I gulped, in awe once more as the tents went ablaze and the other Peacekeepers began to saunter out as if nothing were wrong. With a shrug of his shoulders, their leader turned on his heels and started to walk off, proud. Ostro was just as angry as I was at this point and while he was distracted, I was able to push myself out of his grasp.

"You should be absolutely ashamed of yourself," I called after the man as the flames around us rose.

"Are you speaking to me?" The man asked, looking over his shoulder at me.

"Yes, I am. And I'm telling you that taking a child from his mother is sickening. I don't care who's giving you those orders. I pray that Snow is not going to be taking out that child's parents mistakes on him," I growled at the man.

The man scoffed, shaking his head," Perhaps, the parents should have been wiser. If they were going to be such bold people, then they shouldn't have had children, hoping they would get out unscathed."

I couldn't say anything back to that because I haunted myself daily with that same thought. Every day, I reminded myself that it was my fault that Obadiah had to go through with this. Looking back, I should have said something back to that man. I shouldn't have stood there like an idiot with my mouth hanging open, but I did. He simply laughed at me and then continued into the night. I would have gone after that man, who was holding my unconscious son, but my weapons were within the tents that were burning to the ground as we spoke. That night, the Capitol had won. They came for one reason: to mess with us mentally. They achieved this with ease.

I wanted to chase after them and rip my child out of their hands, but I knew this wouldn't end well. The heat from the flames was starting to become overwhelming, but I couldn't have cared less. In fact, had someone not pulled me away from the sight, I probably would have stayed there.

* * *

We trudged on that night. I was numb. They may have been speaking to me at times, but there was nothing any of them could have said to me to make me feel anything else. All of us were in shell shock; no one saw this coming. In fact, I think many of us were more shaken by the fact that the Capitol knew where we were. How could they have known? And not to mention the fact that they didn't even take us. They took the most innocent one of us who was of little to no value to them. This whole time we had been keeping them in the back of our minds but they were still there, of course, but not an immediate threat. We never thought after the initial run-in that they would find us. Correction: we hoped they would never find us.

That night, we pushed on through the wide open fields. I don't know if Ostro actually knew where he was leading us, but I followed without much thought. We strolled on for hours into the night with the very little supplies we had left after their rade. By the time that we stopped, the moon was sitting low in the sky.

"We'll stay here for the time being. Before we move on any further, we need to figure out how this happened. We can't put Thirteen at risk of detection," Ostro said as we gathered around. The landscape was beginning to have hills and valleys. It was no longer a bare landscape, but rather a lush one. Some of the others may have said something, but my mind was not concerned about them. I silently moved away from the group to sit on the slope of one of the nearby hills. The grass beneath my feet was very thick and unlike anything I had ever seen. I gazed out over the rolling hills around us, searching for some sort of an answer in this beauteous sight. Almost as soon as I sat down, there was another voice behind me.

"You know it's not a good idea to stray away from the group right now," Steele spoke softly, taking a seat beside me.

I wrapped my arms around my legs and pulled them close to my chest," I don't want to be with the group right now."

He hesitated before speaking, "I-I'm so sorry."

"It's not even worth apologizing over. I can't even process what just happened," I whispered, shaking my head.

"I don't think any of us can-"

"But it's not as big a loss to rest of you. You see, Steele, that... that was my son. That was my child. I am supposed to take care of him and make sure nothing bad happens to him. I owe him that; I'm his mother. Not only that, but I lost the last connection that I had to my husband. I couldn't keep Seneca alive, but I tried to keep Obadiah safe, I really did. I really, really did. I knew from the beginning that having a kid was a mistake, but for a while I thought that I could actually take care of him. I thought he would be a way for me to keep Seneca alive. But now, now I know that my gut feeling was right and that we should never have had him. It isn't fair to him; it was too risky," I began rambling, I don't even think that my thoughts made sense, but my brain began spitting them out with this new listening ear.

At my most vulnerable moment, Steele reached out and placed his hand on my arm. It was only a gesture out of sympathy, but looking back, I should have never allowed him to touch me.

I met his eyes for a moment before tears began to fill my eyes. I shook my head and looked up to the sky, hoping for some answer written in the stars.

"This is not your fault," He said sternly, forcing me to look at him. "Do you understand? This is not you being a bad parent. This is Snow being an evil, tyrannical man. He didn't need Obadiah, but he simply took him because he could. He wants you to react like this, Savera. I know that I haven't known you for a very long time, but I could make a fairly confident guess that he knows you. He knows how you operate and he's playing off of your weakness right now."

I blinked several times and tried to regain composure," Who cares if he is- I still lost my child! I am supposed to-"

"Savera, you didn't lose him. Okay? There was nothing you could have done to prevent this from happening. You did what you were supposed to do as a parent. You left with Obadiah to get him away from the Capitol; You did that because you wanted the best for him. Snow planning to take him from you is Snow's problem, not yours."

"Then, what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to feel? Because right now, I feel lower than I ever have before," I answered, my voice rising.

Once again, I looked at his hand which slowly and carefully moved to my upper back. He patted me on the back softly before whispering, "Remember how this feels, but know that you're going to find him. Don't forget this pain, but don't let it hold you back when you're searching for him either. Let this fuel your reason for searching for him. Not the fact that Snow is evil, but the fact that you're his mother. You're the one who should be caring for him and no one else."

Most of the time, I wasn't someone who took advice well. In fact, I would rather give advice than listen to someone give me advice, but in that moment I was either too tired to say anything else or truly touched by what he had said. To this day, I still think his words were spoken very wisely and I couldn't have said that better. I looked into his eyes under the dying moonlight before realizing that he was right. I didn't have the time to sit around and mope over my loss; I had to start thinking of ways to get back to the Capitol. However, the evening was growing late and I had, at best, two hours of rest available. My eyes were growing very heavy and thinking seemed to be too much work at this point.

"Thank you," I whispered, barely audible. "For that."

He patted my back again and I remember him saying something else, but the fatigue was hitting me hard. I remember a yawn escaping my mouth, but my memory after that is very minimal. Sleep, however, did not come very restful. I found my dreams to be filled with horrible scenarios of Obadiah in Capitol custody. From what I was told, I woke up several times in the few hours I did sleep. I never realized where I was sleeping until morning, however. I don't remember ever actually laying down. In fact, I was so tired that I thought I had fallen asleep sitting upright on that hill. Embarrassment didn't even begin to describe how I felt that next morning when Ostro's voice awakened me and I found myself leaning against Steele. Apparently, I had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

I had never jumped up faster in all my life.

"We need to figure out how they found us. I know you just woke up, but you know the Capitol better than the rest of us. I expect you'll be best suited to start early on how this happened. I'm going to try to contact Thirteen," Ostro, who was standing at the top of this hill, looking down at me, spat out quickly before I could even rub the sleep from my eyes.

As rude as it was, I didn't even look at Steele; I couldn't. I simply nodded to Ostro before following him up the hill. Even though it wasn't a huge ordeal, I couldn't help but feel an immense amount of guilt for opening up to another person. Or rather, opening up to another man.

**A/N: I am going to try to continue to update this story periodically. I hope that there is some sort of interest out there for it and there appears to be so this is for the few of you still invested in Savera and Obadiah and the others ****:)****Please let me know what you think! **


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